


Heartless/Heartfull

by Dariary_Absentee



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy has a lot of feeling about Steve, Billy's alive obviously, M/M, Post S3, Steve is confused but definitely down for this ride, but more importantly billy is alive and THRIVING, this is kind of feral ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25117093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dariary_Absentee/pseuds/Dariary_Absentee
Summary: A year later Billy was like an ignited stick of dynamite.He had always burned bright. From the first day he road into Hawkins in his Camaro--a dark and powerful stead. He was like the horseman war personified. Loud, raucous, dangerously handsome.A year later, nothing had changed and something had changed all at once. The funny thing about spending a few days as an interdimensional creature’s meat puppet and getting impaled through the chest was that not a lot mattered in the grand scheme of things after something like that happened.--Surprising just about everyone Billy comes back from the Mind Flayer incident better than ever
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 6
Kudos: 125





	Heartless/Heartfull

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes I think Billy turns out okay after everything.  
> I wrote this in about 40 minutes so excuse typos and mistakes.  
> Also, I'm still salty about his death so I wrote this.

A year later Billy was like an ignited stick of dynamite.

He had always burned bright. From the first day he road into Hawkins in his Camaro--a dark and powerful stead. He was like the horseman war personified. Loud, raucous, dangerously handsome. 

A year later, nothing had changed and something had changed all at once. The funny thing about spending a few days as an interdimensional creature’s meat puppet and getting impaled through the chest was that not a lot mattered in the grand scheme of things after something like that happened. 

Not his dad. 

Not his wrecked GPA. 

Not all the broken promises and his broken heart and his broken brain. 

He was done with broken shit. He was done _being_ broken shit. 

That wasn’t to say Billy didn’t have nightmares, that he didn’t scream in his sleep, he didn’t shake and ache, and it didn’t hurt to breathe most days, and he wasn’t in a bad mood for reasons he could no longer explain--for reasons he couldn’t put into words even if he wanted to. He still went through all of that and a handful of other shit. 

But Jesus, he couldn’t find it in him to care in the long run. 

Like, _really_. 

He could drive, his fingers still got stiff around the steering wheel but that didn’t matter too much. He couldn’t headbang with her, but Max’s head shook and bobbled to AC/DC, her hand out the window as she sang loudly on their way to Family Video. Max liked him better this way too. 

The only people who didn’t like him better this way were Susan and Neil. Although Susan _did_ technically like him better he just made her nervous now. His first night back Neil went easy on him, he didn’t insult him, didn’t call him a faggot. Mind his business like a proper man, but he and Bily had done this song and dance enough to know it wouldn’t last. 

And he couldn’t care less about when the song and dance ended. He _told_ him he didn’t give a shit either. 

“I know what pool bleach taste like so when I say I'd rather drink a gallon than sit down at the table and play family, you know I mean it, right?” 

That ended with all of his shit in the yard. 

It took half the morning and a punch to the face--that somehow hurt less now than it did then--and three naps in the front lawn to get all his stuff back in the house, but he did it. The old bastard wasn’t kicking him out. He was going to leave when he was fucking good and ready. 

Nobody owned him. 

He was _free._

Max pulled her arm back into the Camaro, dented to hell as it was, but it was getting better. No one gave up on Billy so he wasn’t giving up on Angel either. She turned down the radio slightly and spoke, “Horror this time? Thoughts?” 

“I wanna watch a movie, Max, not piss my fucking pants.” 

Another thing about being a walking meat suit and crying his guts out in front of his sister and all of her pubescent friends, and then crying his eyes out in front of a bunch of scientist and doctors, and then actually nearly puking his guts up, and actually dying a few times and being a shaking, terrified mess for weeks on end, meant he _really_ didn’t give a shit about anyone seeing him give a shit anymore. 

For a while, all Billy _could_ do was give a shit. 

“So bad it’s good? Maybe a _little_ scary,” Max asked. 

“That’s more like it,” Billy said with a nod. 

They pulled into a parking spot in front of Family Video. It wasn’t like they weren’t here all the time now. Because he couldn’t really work out and he could only work on Angel in increments so all he could do was read and study and watch movies and fucking play guitar now apparently (it helps with his dexterity). 

But Billy had _additional_ plans. Because, again, life is _real_ fucking short apparently and spending a lot of his time confined to his bed meant he had a lot of time to think about Steve Harrington and--when healthy enough to-- jacking off to the thought of Steve Harrington. 

Billy was a thick-headed about emotions and stuff, but if you spend several weeks thinking about one person and their goofy laugh and pretty eyes, and the way their thighs look in obscenely short blue sailor shorts maybe you should just shoot your shot and get it over with. And Max already told him he _definitely_ wasn’t with that girl Robin, so, just another reason not to waste his time. 

“You get a head start,” Billy said to Max as they entered the movie rental store. She gave him a knowing look that he completely ignored as he made his way over to the counter. Robin wasn’t around it was just Steve. 

To be honest, Billy thought of more than just the moles on his thighs (he’s a little obsessed with them okay) and the way his eyes weren’t exactly brown and they weren’t exactly green. He thought about Steve looking after his sister while he was gone, he thought about what it’d be like to hold down the fort with Steve, be normal with him one day _maybe._

It kind of got him out of bed more days than was probably healthy. 

He’s in fucking _love_ with Steve, and nothing about that scared him anymore. 

“I don’t like the look on your face,” Were the first things out of Steve’s mouth, lips pillowy and soft as usual. He was all smiles too, a goofy, nervous laugh broke out of him. “What is it now, Billy?” 

“You know I love when you use that tone with me, makes me think I’m still a real bad boy.” They both knew he definitely was. He was probably more rebellious now than he was then, except now he just needed to take three puffs from an inhaler while kicking ass. 

Steve rolled his eyes. He had nothing to do up here and Billy knew that because he kept fidgeting with the returned VHSes shuffling and reshuffling them while they stood there. 

“Pretty sure you’re still the real deal,” he said. 

Billy ran his tongue over his now-perpetually chapped lips. “Is that so?”

Steve looked at him. He did that thing he does when he gets nervous where his eyes swish back and forth from corner to corner. His cheeks went red and he bit his lip. 

“I think so.” 

“Buckley around?” Billy asked. 

“Uh...no,” Steve’s shoulders dropped a little. It nearly made Billy laugh, there was no way he’d spent all this time near blatantly flirting with Steve for him to think he actually wanted to talk to her more than he wanted to talk to him. 

“Good, I don’t need to hear her say I told you so,” he said. And then. “You wanna take a drive with me sometime?” 

Steve’s eyes widened a small fraction. “Uh...wait, like a--” 

Billy leaned in on one arm, all up in Steve’s space in the way he missed. The only skin he wanted to be in more than his own was his. “Bingo, amigo, like _that_ ,” he purred. 

“Oh...oh!” Steve nearly knocked over the stack of VHS. “Yeah, wait? What? I mean, yeah, ma, totally. Yeah…” he sucked in a breath. “Yes, that’d be... _cool._ ” 

_Well shit._ Billy grinned and winked. 

In the grand scheme of things the thing that should’ve been the worst thing to ever happen to him was kind of one of the best. 


End file.
